Born 29 Aug 1924 in Drum, PA, Ferdinand was drafted in November 1942 and was trained at Truax Field in Madison, WI and Tyndal Field in Florida. On 21 November 44, he was in the B-24 44-10513 which collided with another B-24 over Carleton Rode, England. He was one of two crewman who got out of his plane and a total of 17 were killed. One month later, he was the radio operator of the B-24 “King Size, 42-50612, which took off from Hethel Airbase in England on a mission to bomb an industrial zone in Wahlen-Kall, Germany. After successfully dropping their bombs, the King Size was attacked by German fighters and went into a spin and started burning. This caused them to fall behind their formation, and they were attacked again and crashed. Of the crew of nine, only two survived.
Ferdinand was incredibly lucky to again be one of two crewman who made it out of the plane. He survived the war and owned a café. He married and had three children. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in Drums, Pennsylvania.